Parents' Guide to Can You See Us?

Both the filmmakers and actors in Can You See Us? seem too inexperienced to do justice to the important subject tackled here. All involved in the enterprise should be credited for taking on the subject of prejudice based on skin color among Africans, but screenwriting, acting, direction, and cinematography skills are necessary ingredients in effective and moving storytelling. Without them, this falls flat, despite what seem to be heartfelt efforts. This is billed as Zambia's first full-length feature on Netflix and for that reason, rather than for greatness, it may be a source of pride and interest among Zambian viewers who hope to see more such productions showcased on the worldwide platform.

Instead of depth, there is repetition. Things that need no explanation are explained and repeated at length, while things that desperately need to be explained aren't even addressed. Joseph asks questions and no one answers him. His parents die. We have no idea how. The father who threw him and his mother out of the house now wants him to live with him. What changed? His prejudice just fell away? Character development is nonexistent and, unfortunately, without it, the moving underlying story fails to move us. Every opportunity for exploration of the issue is bypassed for melodrama and trite, insight-free homilies. The message in the average Hallmark card has more meaning than what passes for wisdom here. Someone says, "The greatest truths are the simplest ones." What does that even mean? Not that there isn't a moving moment or two out of the film's 109-minute running time (most poignant: the reunion between Joseph and the one stranger who was kind to him), but for the most part, the subject of John Chiti's life was wasted on these striving but inexperienced filmmakers.